Indy celebrates 25th annual Pride Festival

INDIANAPOLIS - Thousands of people gathered in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday to take part in the 25th annual Circle City Pride Festival.

The festival comes after a number of high-profile political battles this year over the definition of marriage.

Despite those conflicts, the festival and parade continue to grow by the year.

"The first [parade] lasted about 10 minutes from start to finish," said Pride Parade founder Gary Brackett. "It had a police car, a fire truck, and maybe one float and a couple of drag queens, of course."

Now, after more than a decade, the Cadillac Barbie Pride Parade has grown to feature 24 floats and 2,500 walkers.

"When I first came out years ago, it was kind of iffy," Hardt said. "But now I don't even mention it, and people just assume it's OK."

However, a number of battles centered just blocks away at the statehouse over the last six months have made it clear that Indiana remains divided over the issue of same-sex marriage.

Earlier this week, gay marriage supporters formed a coalition to build support for their cause. Meanwhile, the Indiana Republican Party approved a platform supporting a definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

The pride parade this year received support from employees of a handful of companies, including Cummins Inc. The company's vice president was a vocal opponent to a proposed constitutional ban against same-sex marriage that divided the statehouse earlier this year.